Puzzles and Mechanics
by Josef Cullinane 1702298 'Pandora's Box' will feature a variety of mechanics based on the puzzles that Pandora's controller encounters throughout the game; several mechanics will also pertain to the Narrator to aid his controller in their task. The puzzles themselves will look different depending on whether or not Pandora is hallucinating; they will look like anything from advanced technology to a high fantasy forest during hallucinations, but when Pandora is sane the puzzles will appear to be cobbled together out of bits of hospital equipment or wildlife that has slowly been overtaking the hospital. On each floor there will be a different difficulty of puzzle; the lower the floor number and the closer Pandora is to escape, the more difficult the puzzles will be. The number of 'lives' or 'trys' that Pandora has on each puzzle is equal to the number floor that they are on, so on the 6th floor they will have 6 lives, going down to the ground floor where they cannot fail once. Each level will contain various red herrings meant to befuddle the player. The puzzles themselves will include: -A scavenger hunt in which Pandora must locate several numbers that form a code for a keypad; these numbers can be discovered in many ways, from simply being carved into a wall to being the number of books on a shelf, the amount of total beds on that floor or a myriad of other things. The lower the floor this puzzle is found on, the more numbers will need to be located. Each time they input the wrong code, they lose a life. -Order puzzles involving pulling levers on machines found throughout the level (in the real world, these specialised levers will simply be light switches with sticks glued to them to simulate a lever). There will be more switches that need activating in a more complex order depending on level difficulty. There will be clues to the correct order hidden throughout the level or given by the Narrator, should they be in 'help' mode. Each time they get the order incorrect, they lose a life. -Picture matching games that use heartrate monitors as displays; Pandora must match each pair of images. If they fail a certain number of times, the puzzle shuts down and they fail. There will be clues for which images are where hidden throughout the level and/or given by the Narrator if they're in 'help' mode. The amount of monitors will increase on more difficult floors. -A hallway full of pressure pads; stepping on the correct pad will cause it to make a chirpy 'ding' sound, but stepping on the wrong pad will produce an alarming 'beep' noise. Pandora must find the correct path across the pressure plates, for which there are clues hidden throughout the level or given by the Narrator. Each wrong step will be a life lost. The complexity of the path will increase on more difficult floors. -The ground floor will invariably be a hedge maze. The maze will feature 'gates' which open and close and random, constantly changing its layout. During this level, the Narrator will switch randomly between 'help' and 'hinder' modes, adding another layer of confusion to the player as they do not know whether the information they're being given is useful or harmful. The main mechanics used by Pandora's controller will be inspecting objects that Pandora's controller thinks could help solve the puzzle and pushing buttons/pulling levers/activating pressure pads featured in the puzzles themselves. The main mechanic used by the Narrator's controller will be inspecting the plans for each of his puzzles and activating the intercom to communicate with the player. During the final level, the gateways in the hedge maze will open and close of their own accord, but the Narrator will also be able to open or close gateways that the player is nearby in order to help or hinder them. This mechanic will have a cooldown, represented ingame by the Narrator's console overloading with electricity and needing to reset. Written by Josef Cullinane, student no. 1702298 RELATED ARTICLES Art and Setting Characters Thought Experiment Link Story